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NRQC North Region Quebec Central
Quebec (pronounced [k?w??b?k] or [k???b?k]) or, in French, Québec (pronounced [keb?k]
) is a province in Canada. As of 2006, the Canadian House of Commons recognized
"that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada" although this
recognition remains controversial.
Affectionately known as la belle province ("the beautiful province"), Quebec is
bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay. To
the north are the Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, to the east the Gulf of Saint
Lawrence, the provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, and to
the south the United States (the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and
Maine). It also shares maritime borders with the Territory of Nunavut and the
provinces of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest
administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is the
second most populated province, and most of its inhabitants live along or close
to the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. The central and north portion of the
province is sparsely populated and inhabited by the aboriginal peoples of
Canada. Quebec operates North America's largest and most extensive civil
service.
The official language of Quebec is French; it is the sole Canadian province
whose population is mainly Quebecker, and where English is not an official
language at the provincial level. Quebec has a strong and active nationalist
movement, and has had controversial referendums on independence in 1980 and
1995. While the province's substantial natural resources have long been the
mainstay of its economy, Quebec has renewed itself to function effectively in
the knowledge economy: information and communication technologies, aerospace,
biotechnology, and health industries.
Etymology and boundary changes
Samuel de Champlain, Father of New FranceThe name "Quebec", which comes from a
Míkmaq word meaning "strait, narrows", and originally referred to the area
around Quebec City, where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap.
Early variations in spelling of the name include Québecq (Levasseur, 1601) and
Kébec (Lescarbot 1609). . French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose Québec in
1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the administrative seat for the
French colony of Canada and New France. .
The Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the
Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of New France to Britain
after the Seven Years' War. It restricted the province to an area along the
banks of the Saint Lawrence River. The Quebec Act of 1774 expanded the territory
of the province to include the Great Lakes and the Ohio River Valley. The Treaty
of Versailles, 1783 ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United
States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between
Lower Canada (present day Quebec) and Upper Canada (present day Ontario), with
each being granted an elected Legislative Assembly. In 1840, these become Canada
East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada
into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of
Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867. Each became one of the first four
provinces.
In 1870, Canada purchased Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company and over
the next few decades the Parliament of Canada transferred portions of this
territory to Quebec that would more than triple the size of the province. In
1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act
that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the
aboriginal Cree. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava
through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost
lands of the aboriginal Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec.
Geography
M Geography of Quebec
Satellite view of three Monteregian Hills (Saint Bruno, Saint Hilaire, and
Rougemont) in Saint Lawrence Valley.The province occupies a vast territory
(nearly three times the size of France), most of which is very sparsely
populated. Quebec's highest point is Mont D'Iberville, which is located on the
border with Newfoundland and Labrador in the northeastern part of the province.
The most populated region is the Saint Lawrence River valley in the south, where
the capital, Quebec City, and the largest city, Montreal, are situated. The
region is low-lying and flat, except for isolated igneous outcrops near Montreal
called the Monteregian Hills. The combination of rich and easily arable soils
and Quebec's warmest climate make the valley Quebec's most prolific agricultural
area. A distinctive landscape is divided into narrow rectangular tracts of land
that date back to settlement patterns in 17th century New France. The river is
one of the worlds largest, sustaining large inland Atlantic ports at Montreal,
Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City. The Saint Lawrence Seaway provides a link
between the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes starting at the Saint Lambert
locks in Montreal.
Robert-Bourassa Dam, part of James Bay Project on Canadian Shield.More than 90
percent of Quebec's area lies within the Canadian Shield, a rough, rocky terrain
sculpted and scraped clean of soil by successive ice ages. It is rich in the
mineral and hydro-electric resources that are a mainstay of the Quebec economy.
In the Labrador Peninsula portion of the Shield, the far northern region of
Nunavik includes the Ungava Peninsula and consists of Arctic tundra inhabited
mostly by the Inuit. Further south lie subarctic taiga and boreal forest, where
spruce, fir, and poplar trees provide raw materials for Quebec's pulp and paper
and lumber industries. Although inhabited principally by the Cree, Naskapi, and
Innu First Nations, thousands of temporary workers reside at Radisson to service
the massive James Bay Hydroelectric Project on the La Grande and Eastmain
rivers. The southern portion of the shield extends to the Laurentians, a
mountain range just north of Montreal and Quebec City that attracts local and
international tourists to ski hills and lakeside resorts.
The tree-covered Appalachian Mountains flank the eastern portion of the
province, extending from New England into the Eastern Townships, northeastward
through the Beauce region, and on to the Gaspé Peninsula, where they disappear
into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This region sustains a mix of forestry, industry,
and tourism based on its natural resources and landscape.
Climate
Quebec has three main climate regions. Southern and western Quebec, including
most of the major population centres, have a humid continental climate (Koppen
climate classification Dfb) with warm, humid summers and long, cold winters. The
main climatic influences are from western and northern Canada which move
eastward and from the southern and central United States that move northward.
Due to the influence of both storm systems from the core of North America and
the Atlantic Ocean, precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with most
areas receiving more than 1,000 mm (40 inches) of precipitation, including over
300 cm (120 inches) of snow in many areas. Severe summer weather (such as
tornadoes and severe thunderstorms) are far less common than in southern
Ontario, although they occasionally occur.
Most of central Quebec has a subarctic climate (Koppen Dfc). Winters here are
long and among the coldest in eastern Canada, while summers are warm but very
short due to the higher latitude and the greater influence of Arctic air masses.
Precipitation is also somewhat less than farther south, except at some of the
higher elevations.
The northern regions of Quebec have an arctic climate (Koppen ET), with very
cold winters and short, much cooler summers. The primary influences here are the
Arctic Ocean currents (such as the Labrador Current) and continental air masses
from the High Arctic.
History
M History of Quebec
First Nations: before 1500
At the time of first European contact and later colonization, Algonquian,
Iroquoian and Inuit groups were the peoples of what is now Québec. Their
lifestyles and cultures reflected the land on which they lived. Seven Algonquian
groups lived nomadic lives based on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the
rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield: (James Bay Cree, Innu, Algonquins) and
Appalachian Mountains (Mi'kmaq, Abenaki). St. Lawrence Iroquoians lived more
settled lives, planting squash and maize in the fertile soils of St. Lawrence
Valley. The Inuit continue to fish, whale, and seal in the harsh Arctic climate
along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bay. These peoples traded fur and food,
and sometimes warred with each other.
Early European exploration: 1500
Basque whalers and fishermen traded furs with Saguenay natives throughout the
1500s.
The first French explorer to reach Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a
cross either in Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore. He
sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535 and established an ill-fated colony
near present-day Quebec City at the site of Stadacona, an Iroquoian village.
New France
M New France
Samuel de Champlain was part of a 1603 expedition from France that traveled into
the St. Lawrence River. In 1608, he returned as head of an exploration party and
founded Quebec City with the intention of making the area part of the French
colonial empire. Champlain's Habitation de Quebec, built as a permanent fur
trading outpost, was where he would forge a trading, and ultimately a military
alliance, with the Algonquin and Huron nations. Natives traded their furs for
many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing.
Hélène Desportes, born July 7, 1620, to French habitants Pierre Desportes and
his wife Fran?oise Langlois, was the first child of European descent born in
Quebec.
From Quebec, coureurs des bois, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries used river
canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent, establishing fur
trading forts on the Great Lakes (étienne Br?lé 1615), Hudson Bay (Radisson and
Groseilliers 1659-60), Ohio River and Mississippi River (La Salle 1682), as well
as the Prairie River and Missouri River (de la Verendrye 1734-1738).
After 1627, King Louis XIII of France introduced the seigneurial system and
forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. Sulpician
and Jesuit clerics founded missions in Trois-Rivières (Laviolette) and Montréal
or Ville-Marie (Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance) to convert New
France's Huron and Algonkian allies to Catholicism. The seigneurial system of
governing New France also encouraged immigration from the motherland.
New France became a Royal Province in 1663 under King Louis XIV of France with a
Sovereign Council that included intendant Jean Talon. This ushered in a golden
era of settlement and colonization in New France, including the arrival of les "Filles
du Roi". The population would grow from about 3,000 to 60,000 people between
1666 and 1760. Colonists built farms on the banks of St. Lawrence River and
called themselves "Canadiens" or "Habitants". The colony's total population was
limited, however, by a winter climate significantly harsher than that found in
France; by the spread of diseases; and by the refusal of the French crown to
allow Huguenots, or French Protestants, to settle. The population of New France
lagged far behind that of the 13 Colonies to the south, leaving it vulnerable to
attack.
Conquest of New France
In 1753 France began building a series of forts in the British Ohio Country.
They refused to leave after being notified by the British Governor and, in 1754,
George Washington launched an attack on the French Fort Duquesne (now
Pittsburgh) in the Ohio Valley in an attempt to enforce the British claim to
take territory. This frontier battle set the stage for the French and Indian War
in North America. By 1756, France and Britain were battling the Seven Years' War
worldwide. In 1758, the British mounted an attack on New France by sea and took
the French fort at Louisbourg.
On 13 September 1759, General James Wolfe defeated General Louis-Joseph de
Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. France ceded its North
American possessions to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris (1763). By the
British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the
Province of Quebec.
In 1774, fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec (as the colony
was now called) would side with the rebels of the Thirteen Colonies to the
south, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act giving recognition to French
law, Catholic religion and French language in the colony; before that Catholics
had been excluded from public office and recruitment of priests and brothers
forbidden, effectively shutting down Quebec's schools and colleges. The first
British policy of assimilation (1763-1774) was deemed a failure. Both the
petitions and demands of the Canadiens' élites, and Governor Guy Carleton,
played an important part in convincing London of dropping the assimilation
scheme, but the looming American revolt was certainly a factor. By the Quebec
Act, the Quebec people obtained their first Charter of rights. That paved the
way to later official recognition of the French language and French culture. The
Act allowed Canadiens to maintain French civil law and sanctioned the freedom of
religious choice, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain. It also restored
the Ohio Valley to Quebec, reserving the territory for the fur trade.
The act, designed to placate one North American colony, had the opposite effect
among its neighbors to the south. The Quebec Act was among the Intolerable Acts
that infuriated American colonists, who launched the American Revolution. A 1775
invasion by the American Continental Army met with early success, but was later
repelled at Quebec City.
The English defeat at Yorktown 1781
When the American army came to Quebec they found many sympathetic supporters.
According to Baby, Tachereau and Williams, as many as 747 people in Quebec took
up active service with the Americans. Most notably Clément Gosselin of the 2nd
Canadian Regiment. At sea, Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil beat the British Navy at
the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. John Graves Simcoe, the founder of Ontario, was
soundly defeated by the French Cavalry of the Duke of Lauzun, who was brought to
America by Louis-Philippe.
William Howe who led the attack on the Plains of Abraham before Wolfe, was met
by the 2nd Canadian Regiment at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. This was a
diversion battle while other Quebecers in the 1st Canadian Regiment of James
Livingston defeated John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
At the end of the war, 50,000 Loyalists came to Canada and settled amongst a
population of 90,000 French people. English Canada was built by the British who
were defeated by the Americans, French and Quebecers at the Battle of Yorktown.
The American Revolutionary War was ultimately successful in winning the
independence of the Thirteen Colonies. With the Treaty of Paris (1783), the
British would cede its territory south of the Great Lakes to the new United
States of America.
The Patriotes' Rebellion in Lower and Upper Canada
M Lower Canada Rebellion
Like their counterparts in Upper Canada, in 1837, English and French speaking
residents of Lower Canada, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson,
formed an armed resistance group to seek an end to British colonial rule. They
made a Declaration of rights with equality for all citizens without
discrimination, and a Declaration of Independence in 1838. Their actions
resulted in rebellions in both Lower and Upper Canada. An unprepared British
Army had to raise a local militia force and the rebel forces were soon defeated
after having scored a victory in Saint-Denis, Quebec, east of Montreal. The
British army also burned the Church of St-Eustache, killing the rebels who were
hiding within it. The bullet and cannonball marks on the walls of the church are
still visible to this day.
Act of Union
After the rebellions, Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a
report on the matter and to offer a solution for the British Parliament to
assess.
The final report recommended that the population of Lower Canada be assimilated.
Following Durham's Report, the British government merged the two colonial
provinces into one Province of Canada in 1840 with the Act of Union.
However, the political union proved contentious. Reformers in both Canada West
(formerly Upper Canada) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) worked to repeal
limitations on the use of the French language in the Legislature. The two
colonies remained distinct in administration, election, and law.
In 1848, Baldwin and LaFontaine, allies and leaders of the Reformist party,
obtained the grant (from Lord Elgin) for responsible government and returned the
French language to legal status in the Legislature.
Canadian Confederation
In the 1860s, the delegates from the colonies of British North America (Canada,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland) met in a
series of conferences to discuss self-governing status for a new confederation.
The first Charlottetown Conference took place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island followed by the Quebec Conference in Quebec City which led to a
delegation going to London, England to put forth the proposal for the national
union.
As a result of those deliberations, in 1867 the Parliament of the United Kingdom
passed the British North America Act, providing for the Confederation of most of
these provinces.
The former Province of Canada was divided into its two previous parts as the
provinces of Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada).
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined Ontario and Quebec in the new Dominion of
Canada.
Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 and the Dominion of Newfoundland entered
Confederation in 1949.
The "Quiet Revolution"
M Quiet Revolution
The conservative government of Maurice Duplessis and his Union Nationale
dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the Roman
Catholic church. Pierre Elliot Trudeau and other liberals formed an intellectual
opposition to Duplessis's regime, setting the groundwork for the Quiet
Revolution under Jean Lesage's Liberals. The Quiet Revolution was a period of
dramatic social and political change that saw the decline of Anglo supremacy in
the Quebec economy, the decline of the Roman Catholic Church's influence, the
nationalization of hydro-electric companies under Hydro-Québec and the emergence
of a sovereignist movement under former Liberal minister René Lévesque.
The Quiet Revolution has been described by some people as the time when everyone
stopped going to church; so that by the end of 1963 the Catholic churches were
virtually empty. Whether this is a factual comment or simply an expression of
the felt change that Quebec was going through at the time, it provides a telling
commentary to the widespread change that the people in Quebec underwent during
the Quiet Revolution. The period spawned a significant movement for statehood
which resulted in two referendums (in 1980 and 1995) which rejected
sovereignty-association.
Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de
libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks
directed primarily at English institutions, resulting in at least five deaths.
In 1970, their activities culminated in events referred to as the October Crisis
when James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada, was kidnapped along
with Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier, who was murdered a
few days later. In their published Manifesto, the terrorists stated: "In the
coming year Bourassa (Quebec Premier) will have to face reality; 100,000
revolutionary workers, armed and organized."
At the request of Premier Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked
the War Measures Act. Once the emergency Act was in place, arrangements were
made for all detainees to see legal counsel . In addition, the Quebec Ombudsman
, Louis Marceau, was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec
government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested (only in
Quebec). On February 3, 1971, John Turner, the Minister of Justice of Canada,
reported that 497 persons had been arrested throughout Canada under the War
Measures Act, of whom 435 had been released. The other 62 were charged, of which
32 were crimes of such seriousness that a Quebec Superior Court judge refused
them bail. The crisis ended after a few weeks after the death of Pierre Laporte
at the hands of his captors. The fallout of the crisis marked the zenith and
twilight of the FLQ which lost membership and public support.
In 1977, the newly elected Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque
introduced the Charter of the French Language. Often known as Bill 101, it
defined French as the only official language of Quebec in areas of provincial
jurisdiction.
The Parti Québécois and constitutional crisis
Lévesque and his party had run in the 1970 and 1973 Quebec elections under a
platform of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada. The party failed to win
control of Quebec's National Assembly both times — though its share of the vote
increased from 23% to 30% — and Lévesque himself was defeated both times in the
riding he contested. In the 1976 election, he softened his message by promising
a referendum (plebiscite) on sovereignty-association rather than outright
separation, by which Quebec would have independence in most government functions
but share some other ones, such as a common currency, with Canada. On November
15, 1976, Lévesque and the Parti Québécois won control of the provincial
government for the first time. The question of sovereignty-association was
placed before the voters in the 1980 Quebec referendum. During the campaign,
Pierre Trudeau promised that a vote for the NO side was a vote for reforming
Canada. Trudeau advocated the patriation of Canada's Constitution from the
United Kingdom. The existing constitutional document, the British North America
Act, could only be amended by the United Kingdom Parliament upon a request by
the Canadian parliament.
Sixty percent of the Quebec electorate voted against the proposition. Polls
showed that the overwhelming majority of English and immigrant Quebecers voted
against, and that French Quebecers were almost equally divided, with older
voters less in favour, and younger voters more in favour. After his loss in the
referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to start negotiating a new constitution
with Trudeau, his minister of Justice Jean Chrétien and the nine other
provincial premiers. Lévesque insisted Quebec be able to veto any future
constitutional amendments. The negotiations quickly reached a stand-still.
Then on the night of November 4, 1981 (widely known in Quebec as La nuit des
longs couteaux or the "Night of the Long Knives"'), Federal Justice Minister
Jean Chretien met all the provincial premiers except René Lévesque to sign the
document that would eventually become the new Canadian constitution. The next
morning, they put Lévesque in front of the "fait accompli." Lévesque refused to
sign the document, and returned to Quebec. In 1982, Trudeau had the new
constitution approved by the British Parliament, with Quebec's signature still
missing (a situation that persists to this day). The Supreme Court of Canada
confirmed Trudeau's assertion that every province's approval is not required to
amend the constitution.
In subsequent years, two attempts were made to gain Quebec's approval of the
constitution. The first was the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, which was finally
abandoned in 1990 when the provinces of Manitoba and Newfoundland refused to
support it. This led to the formation of the sovereignist Bloc Québécois party
in Ottawa under the leadership of Lucien Bouchard, who had resigned from the
federal cabinet. The second attempt, the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, was
rejected by 56.7% of all Canadians and 57% of Quebecers. This result caused a
split in the Quebec Liberal Party that led to the formation of the new Action
Démocratique (Democratic Action) party led by Mario Dumont and Jean Allaire.
On October 30, 1995, with the Parti Québécois back in power since 1994, a second
referendum on sovereignty took place. This time, it was rejected by a slim
majority (50.6% NO to 49.4% YES); a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers
voted in favour of sovereignty.
The referendum was enshrouded in controversy. Federalists complained that an
unusually high number of ballots had been rejected in pro-federalist areas,
notably in the largely Jewish and Greek riding of Chomedey (11.7 % or 5,500 of
its ballots were spoiled, compared to 750 or 1.7% in the general election of
1994) although Quebec's chief electoral officer found no evidence of outright
fraud. The Government of Canada was accused of not respecting provincial laws
with regard to spending during referendums (leading to a corruption scandal that
would become public a decade later, greatly damaging the Liberal Party's
standing), and to having accelerated the naturalization of immigrant people
living in the province of Quebec (43,850 immigrants were naturalized in 1995,
whereas the average number between 1988 and 1998 was 21,733).
The same night of the referendum, an angry Jacques Parizeau, then premier and
leader of the "Yes" side, declared that the loss was due to "money and the
ethnic vote". Parizeau resigned over public outrage and as per his commitment to
do so in case of a loss. Lucien Bouchard became Quebec's new premier in his
place.
Federalists accused the sovereignist side of asking a vague, overly complicated
question on the ballot. Its English text read as follows:
Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal
offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of
the bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on June 12,
1995?
After winning the next election, Bouchard retired from politics in 2001. Bernard
Landry was then appointed leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec.
In 2003, Landry lost the election to the Quebec Liberal Party and Jean Charest.
Landry stepped down as PQ leader in 2005, and in a crowded race for the party
leadership, André Boisclair was elected to succeed him. The PQ has promised to
hold another referendum should it return to government.
Quebec as a nation
Given the province's heritage and the preponderance of French (unique among the
Canadian provinces), there is an ongoing debate in Canada regarding the status
of Quebec and/or its people (wholly or partially). Prior attempts to amend the
Canadian constitution to acknowledge Quebec as a 'distinct society' – referring
to the province's uniqueness within Canada regarding law, language, and culture
– have been unsuccessful; however, the federal government under prime minister
Jean Chrétien would later endorse recognition of Quebec as a distinct society.
On October 30, 2003, the National Assembly voted unanimously to affirm "that the
Quebecers form a nation". On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons passed a
motion moved by prime minister Stephen Harper declaring that "this House
recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada." , although
there is considerable debate and uncertainty over what this means.
Government
Main articles: Politics of Quebec and Monarchy in Quebec
The Lieutenant Governor represents Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The head
of government is the Premier (called premier ministre in French) who leads the
largest party in the unicameral National Assembly or Assemblée Nationale, from
which the Council of Ministers is appointed.
Until 1968, the Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative
Council and the Legislative Assembly. In that year the Legislative Council was
abolished, and the Legislative Assembly was renamed the National Assembly.
Quebec was the last province to abolish its legislative council.
The government of Quebec awards an order of merit called the National Order of
Quebec. It is inspired in part by the French Legion of Honour. It is conferred
upon men and women born or living in Quebec (but non-Quebecers can be inducted
as well) for outstanding achievements.
Administrative subdivisions
M Administrative subdivisions of Quebec
Quebec has subdivisions at the regional, supralocal and local levels. Excluding
administrative units reserved for Aboriginal lands, the primary types of
subdivision are:
At the regional level:
17 administrative regions.
At the supralocal level:
86 regional county municipalities or RCMs (municipalités régionales de comté,
MRC);
2 metropolitan communities (communautés métropolitaines).
At the local level:
1,117 local municipalities of various types;
11 agglomerations (agglomérations) grouping 42 of these local municipalities;
within 8 local municipalities, 45 boroughs (arrondissements).
Population centres
The data are from the 2006 census of Canada.
Census metropolitan areas by population
Census
metropolitan
area 2006 pop. 2001 pop.1 Region2 Image
Greater Montreal 3,635,571 3,451,027 Montréal
Quebec City
(provincial capital) 715,515 686,569 Capitale-Nationale
Gatineau3 283,959 261,704 Outaouais
Sherbrooke 186,952 175,950 Estrie
Saguenay 151,643 154,938 Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Trois-Rivières 141,529 137,507 Mauricie
1These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
2Where a metropolitan area straddles more than one administrative region, the
region of the central municipality is given.
3These figures pertain to the part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan
area that is in Quebec. The total figures for the CMA, including the part in
Ontario, are 1,130,761 (2006), 1,067,800 (2001).
Major municipalities
The municipalities of the Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan
areas exceeding 50,000 in population in 2006 are given below with their
administrative regions in parentheses.
Montreal CMA:
Montreal (Montréal), 1,620,693;
Laval (Laval), 368,709;
Longueuil (Montérégie), 229,330;
Terrebonne (Lanaudière), 94,703;
Repentigny (Lanaudière) 76,237;
Brossard (Montérégie), 71,154;
Saint-Jér?me (Laurentides), 63,729.
The population of the Island of Montreal was 1,854,442.
Quebec CMA:
Quebec City (Capitale-Nationale), 491,142;
Lévis (Chaudière-Appalaches), 130,006.
Ottawa-Gatineau CMA:
Gatineau (Outaouais), 242,124.
The population of Ottawa, Ontario is 812,129.
Other census agglomerations
Census
agglomeration 2006 20011 Region2
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 87,492 79,600 Montérégie
Drummondville 78,108 72,778 Centre-du-Québec
Granby 68,352 63,069 Montérégie
Shawinigan 56,434 56,412 Mauricie
Saint-Hyacinthe 55,823 54,275 Montérégie
Victoriaville 48,893 46,908 Centre-du-Québec
Sorel-Tracy 48,295 47,802 Montérégie
Rimouski 46,807 46,012 Bas-Saint-Laurent
Joliette 43,595 39,720 Lanaudière
Rouyn-Noranda 39,924 39,621 Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Salaberry-de-Valleyfield 39,672 39,028 Montérégie
Alma 32,603 32,930 Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Val-d'Or 32,288 32,433 Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Saint-Georges 31,364 29,759 Chaudière-Appalaches
Baie-Comeau 29,808 30,401 C?te-Nord
Sept-?les 27,827 27,623 C?te-Nord
Thetford Mines 26,107 26,721 Chaudière-Appalaches
Rivière-du-Loup 24,570 23,229 Bas-Saint-Laurent
Amos 17,918 18,302 Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Matane 16,438 16,597 Bas-Saint-Laurent
La Tuque 15,293 15,725 Mauricie
Dolbeau-Mistassini 14,546 14,879 Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Cowansville 12,666 12,558 Montérégie
Lachute 11,832 11,628 Laurentides
1These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
2Where a census agglomeration straddles more than one administrative region, the
region of the central municipality is given.
The municipalities of Quebec which are not part of a CMA or CA but which had
populations exceeding 10,000 in 2006, with administrative regions in
parentheses, are: Gaspé (Gaspésie-?les-de-la-Madeleine), 14,819;
Saint-Lin-Laurentides (Lanaudière), 14,159; Mont-Laurier (Laurentides), 13,405;
Les ?les-de-la-Madeleine (Gaspésie-?les-de-la-Madeleine), 12,560; Sainte-Marie
(Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,584; Montmagny (Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,353;
Sainte-Adèle (Laurentides), 10,634; Roberval (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,544;
Saint-Félicien (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,477; Sainte-Sophie (Laurentides),
10,355; Prévost (Laurentides), 10,132; Rawdon (Lanaudière), 10,058.
Economy
M Economy of Quebec
Montreal, North America's Francophone metropolis
The St. Lawrence River Valley is a fertile agricultural region, producing dairy
products, fruit, vegetables, foie gras, maple syrup (Quebec is the world's
largest producer), and livestock.
North of the St. Lawrence River Valley, the territory of Quebec is extremely
rich in resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and paper,
lumber, and hydroelectricity are still some of the province's most important
industries.
High-tech industries are very important around Montreal. It includes the
aerospace companies like aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, the jet engine
company Pratt & Whitney, the flight simulator builder CAE and defence contractor
Lockheed Martin, Canada. Those companies and other major subcontractors make
Quebec the fourth biggest player worldwide in the aviation industry. In the
video game industry, large players like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft have studios
in Montreal .
Chateau Frontenac, the world's most photographed hotel, is iconic to the
province of Quebec.
Culture
M Culture of Quebec
Quebec is the largest French-speaking society in the Americas. Most French
Canadians live in Quebec, though there are other concentrations of
French-speakers throughout Canada with varying degrees of ties to Quebec.
Montreal is the cosmopolitan cultural heart of Quebec.
English-speaking Quebecers constitute an official language minority whose
number, according to the 2001 census and depending on the method of reckoning,
ranges from 557,040 (mother tongue, single response) to 918,955 ("first official
language spoken" English plus half of those with both English and French as
first official language spoken), constituting 7.8% to 12.9% of the population.
Quebec is also home to 11 aboriginal nations. The total Aboriginal identity
population of Quebec was 79,400 in 2001.
Demographics
M Demographics of Quebec
Quebec's fertility rate is now among the lowest in Canada. At 1.48, it is well
below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1. This contrasts with the fertility
rate before 1960 which was among the highest of any industrialized societies.
The fertility rate in 2006 was 1.62.
Although Quebec represents only 24% of the population of Canada, the number of
international adoptions in Quebec is the highest of all provinces of Canada. In
2001, 42% of international adoptions in Canada were carried out in Quebec.
Population of Quebec since 1851
Year Population Five-year
% change Ten-year
% change Rank among
provinces
1851 892,061 n/a n/a 2
1861 1,111,566 n/a 24.6 2
1871 1,191,516 n/a 7.2 2
1881 1,359,027 n/a 14.1 2
1891 1,488,535 n/a 9.5 2
1901 1,648,898 n/a 10.8 2
1911 2,005,776 n/a 21.6 2
1921 2,360,665 n/a 17.8 2
1931 2,874,255 n/a 21.8 2
1941 3,331,882 n/a 15.9 2
1951 4,055,681 n/a 21.8 2
1956 4,628,378 14.1 n/a 2
1961 5,259,211 13.6 29.7 2
1966 5,780,845 9.9 24.9 2
1971 6,027,765 4.3 14.6 2
1976 6,234,445 3.4 7.8 2
1981 6,438,403 3.3 6.8 2
1986 6,532,460 1.5 4.8 2
1991 6,895,963 5.6 7.1 2
1996 7,138,795 3.5 9.3 2
2001 7,237,479 1.4 5.0 2
2006 7,546,131 4.3 5.7 2
Source: Statistics Canada
Ethnic origins
Ethnic origin Population Percent
"Canadian" 4,897,475 68.73%
French 2,111,570 29.67%
Irish 291,545 5.09%
Italian 249,205 3.70%
English 218,415 3.07%
Scottish 156,140 2.19%
North American Indian 130,165 1.83%
German 88,700 1.24%
Jewish 82,450 1.16%
Haitian 74,465 1.05%
The information regarding ethnicities at the right is from the 2001 Canadian
Census. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g.,
"French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the
category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 70,000 responses are included.
Religious groups
Quebec is unique among the provinces in its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic
population. This is a legacy of colonial times; only Catholics were permitted to
settle in the New France colony.
90.2% Christian
83.3% Roman Catholic
4.7% Protestant
1.4% Eastern Orthodox
0.8% other Christian
7.1% non-religious
1.5% Muslim
1.2% Jewish
Language
M Demolinguistics of Quebec
Quebec is the only Canadian province where French is the only official language.
In 2001 the population was:
French speakers: 82.0%
English speakers: 7.9%
Others: 10.1% (Italian 5.2%, Spanish 2.3%, Arabic 2.9%, and others)
Symbols and emblems
The Fleurdelisé leads a ship to harbour near Quebec City.The motto of Quebec is
Je me souviens ("I remember"), which is carved into the Parliament Building
fa?ade in Quebec City and is seen on the coat of arms and licence plates.
The graphic emblem of Quebec is the fleur-de-lis, usually white on a blue
background, as on the flag of Quebec, the Fleurdelisé. As indicated on the
government of Quebec's Web site, the flag recalls the French Royal banner said
to have accompanied the army of General Montcalm, Marquis de Saint-Véran during
the victorious battle of Carillon in 1758. While the fleur-de-lis, a symbol of
France's Ancien Régime, may be thought of as "counter-revolutionary" in France
today, it is a modern symbol in Quebec (which was never ruled by the French
Republic) and is prominent in its coat of arms.
The floral emblem of Quebec is the Iris versicolor. It was formerly the Madonna
lily, to recall the fleur-de-lis, but has been changed to the iris, which is
native to Quebec.
The harfang de neige (snowy owl) is a common symbol of Quebec.The avian emblem
of Quebec is the snowy owl.
In addition to the other emblems, an insect emblem has been chosen by popular
vote in October 1998 during a poll sponsored by the Montreal Insectarium: The
White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) won with 32 % of the 230 660 votes. The
butterfly was in competition with four other candidates: the Spotted lady beetle
(Coleomegilla maculata lengi), the Ebony Jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx
maculata), a species of bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) and the six-spotted tiger
beetle (Cicindela sexguttata sexguttata). The Ministère du Développement
durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs supports and finances actions to
officially recognize the White Admiral as the insect emblem.
The patron saints of French Canada are Saint Anne and John the Baptist. La
Saint-Jean, June 24, is Quebec's national day and has been officially called the
Fête nationale du Québec since 1977. The song "Gens du pays" by Gilles Vigneault
is sometimes regarded as Quebec's unofficial anthem.
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